Last Saturday night I went to see Cinderella the Musical starring Lea Salonga, which stops in Thailand for one week on its international tour. Cinderella is perhaps the most well-known fairy tale in the world, Lea Salonga is my favorite musical theater actress, and Rodgers and Hammerstein's music is always enchanted, so I decided to see it since the very first second I saw the billboard at Rachadalai theater.

I have seen many versions of Cinderella, starting from the animation by Walt Disney, the 1997 musical version starring Brandy as Cinderella, to the film version 'Ever After'. However, I was still excited to see how Cinderella in Lea Salonga version would come out. Lea is my favorite actress after all. I have seen some clips of her playing the role 'Kim' in Miss Saigon to 'Eponine' in Les Miz, and her voice is just incomparable, so I had always been waiting to see her live on stage.

And Lea did not disappoint me at all.

Though I still prefer her as Eponine, the role which matches her so much that was like being 'written for her', Lea also performed well as Cinderella. She did not try to act like a young and innocent girl like most Cinderellas are. Cinderella Lea just represents a common girl who has dreams and wishes. Her voice is as clear as ever. (cannot believe she is already 37 years old!) Her dancing step is also hilarious. I think it was the first time I saw her dancing, she must have practiced really hard.

However, there is one thing I do not like much though. It's the role of the Prince played by Peter Saide. I could not help comparing him to the Prince in the former version I saw. Paolo Montalban did such a great job. He was able to communicate his feelings through his eyes and his voice, so I could feel his passion towards Cinderella is so much that he could do everything. For Peter Saide, though his look may well represent the stereotyped prince, I found him somewhat lack of charm and passion.

Anyway, I was so happy to listen to my favorite songs live, especially a song so meaningful and always touches my heart every time I listen to it; Do I love you because you're beautiful?

Prince:Do I love you because you're beautiful?Or are you beautiful because I love you?Am I making believe I see in youA girl to lovely to be really true?Do I want you because you're wonderful?Or are you wonderful because I want you?Are you the sweet invention of a lover's dream,Or are you really as beautiful as you seem?

Cinderella:(Maybe you're imagining me. And maybe I'm imagining you, too.)Am I making believe I see in youA man to perfect to be really true?Do I want you because you're wonderful,or are you wonderful because I want you?

Both:Are you the sweet invention of a lover's dream,or are you really as wonderful as you seem?